Designs for Two Chairs 1841 - 1884

Editor: Here we have "Designs for Two Chairs," created between 1841 and 1884 by Charles Hindley and Sons. They're pencil and ink drawings on paper. They feel very proper, even a little severe. How would you interpret these designs? Curator: Well, on the surface, these chair designs might seem purely decorative, but I think it is more. Consider the era. This period saw enormous social upheaval. Furniture design, like all art forms, reflects and sometimes critiques prevailing power structures. These chairs, with their almost throne-like uprightness, speak to Victorian ideals of order and control, especially in domestic spaces. Who would be sitting in these chairs and why? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way. They do have a regal quality, but is there any significance to the difference in ornamentation, or the gothic tracery? Curator: Absolutely! The subtle differences point to the complex performance of class and status. Gothic elements, appropriated from religious architecture, would have suggested a moral high ground. At the same time, design like this obscures the labor of manufacture; one has to ask: Who is invited to sit, and who isn't, and who is doing the labor here? How are these aesthetic choices reinforcing Victorian societal hierarchy? Editor: So, it's not just about aesthetics; it is social commentary. Curator: Exactly! The very act of designing and choosing these chairs would place the commissioner within a very specific cultural and economic context. Design choices, what may seem ‘merely’ decorative, were integral to establishing and maintaining social identity. It's like, 'this is my seat and I'm working on how you see me.’ Editor: I see that now. Thank you for expanding my understanding of this artwork and opening me to the world surrounding it. Curator: My pleasure, I have learned in turn! Now I can see even more nuances of status!